Frosty Root Beer at "The Drive In" in Taylors Falls

Last week, my boys and I were camping along the St. Croix River, and we stopped in for lunch at "The Drive In" in Taylors Falls, MN. You can find it by looking for the 15' spinning Frostop mug:

That's the FROSTIEST mug of root beer I've ever had. Just look at that massive root beer ice berg inside that glass! It was sooo good after a hot hike in Interstate State Park.

Twig's Root Beer

I brought this along on a recent camping trip with my 2 boys:

In front of our little “camper cabin” at Minnesota’s William O’Brien State Park.

Brand: Twig's Root Beer.

Origin: Shawano, WI.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was OK. It was pretty creamy and smooth (which I liked), but there was just a bit too much caramel taste (which I didn’t like). It wasn’t enough to turn me off to it - it was just a bit less desirable because of it. Overall, not bad. I’d have this again.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.


Bonus photo: drinking it inside the porch of the cabin on a breezy day:

Whistler Sarsaparilla

I cracked into this on Sunday:

I suppose it's a bad sign they can't spell "sarsaparilla," right?

Brand: Whistler Sarsaparilla.

Origin: Made in Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: My experience with Whistler has been up and down. And after this (misspelled) soda, it's back up. This was pretty good. The flavor wasn't too deep, and it was a bit subtle. But it was good. Earthy and tasty. It felt "pure" (whatever that means to you). This was very enjoyable.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Virgil's Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer

Sorry for not posting for over 2 weeks. I've been busy with family. I had hoped to try this next root beer on a family trip, but never got a chance. So I opened it up this afternoon at home:

Will I really "swear it's made in heaven?"

Brand: Virgil's Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: Many years ago, I reviewed "regular" Virgil's Root Beer. And this was much better. The nutmeg was noticeable, but it wasn't overbearing. It was a nice touch. As the label promised, it WAS rich and creamy. (But I didn't swear it was made in heaven.) It was unique without being "weird" (which I was afraid of). Pretty good!

Score: 8 out of 10.

Bad Day...

Ramblin' Butterscotch Root Beer

I opened this during my boys' nap time today:

Brand: Ramblin' Butterscotch Root Beer.

Origin: Atlanta, GA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This wasn't great. It was OK, but a bit "chemically." The butterscotch was overpowering and a bit too much. It just didn't impress me and wasn't that good. You MIGHT like it if you REALLY like butterscotch, but that's about the only good thing I can say about this.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Whistler Black Cherry Soda

I enjoyed this while in a hotel room in Winona last night:

Watching NCAA track and field in the background.

Brand: Whistler Black Cherry Soda.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: I haven't had great luck with Whistler sodas in the last few weeks, so I didn't have high expectations going into this. But it was pretty good. It was very smooth, and had a deep black cherry flavor. There was a slightly weird "bite" in the aftertaste, but it was subtle and it didn't ruin the experience. I liked this.

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Big Ben's Root Beer

I opened this last night as the boys played in the yard:

Brand: Big Ben's Root Beer.

Origin: Catawissa, PA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This was pretty rich. It had a deep caramel flavor on top of a relatively vanilla classic root beer flavor. The caramel flavor was just a little too much for me, but not horrible. I'll give this a pretty average score.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Celsius Cola

This seemed interesting. I was scared...

Brand: Celsius Cola.

Origin: Boynton Beach, Florida.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sucralose.

Review: The first thing I did was look online to check the caffeine content because it wasn't listed on the bottle. Amazon.com tells me there's 200 mg of caffeine per serving! (A can of Coke has around 30 mg, and a cup of coffee is around 90 mg. "Diet Pepsi Max" which totes about having a lot of caffeine has 69 mg in a can.) There's a warning that reads "Not recommended for people who are caffeine sensitive, children under 18 or women pregnant or nursing."

But how'd it taste? It was like a weak, fruity cola. It had the "thinness" of a diet, but it wasn't bad. The weak flavor that was there was pretty good. It was a unique cola. I drank it at 2 sittings because of the high caffeine, but this surprised me! I may have to try this again when I need a pick-me-up.

Score: 6.5 out of 10.